Ok so this past weekend saw me make my debut for the Walkers Sensations in the Card Guard Team Game. I couldn't have been more proud to be playing with this group of lads, all of whom I'd consider great friends. I was desperate to make a good showing and not to let the guys down but I know that whatever happens I'd feel welcome and a great time would be had by all.
I travelled up on the Friday and immediately met Ridla for some food and then some sweet cash action in Aspers. Sam J joined us just as a fresh table was opening. I managed to make enough money in this £1/£1 game to show a profit over the whole weekend including train fare food and all. Just goes to show that you can play Jacks horribly and get away with it :) I flatted a raise in position as it was getting called all over the table. I flop a set on the freaking Atlantis of boards, three to a straight and two to a flush. I get in third and bink a house on the river to scoop a big pot. Talking through the hand after with Sam my reasoning was if I fold and it pairs up then I'm going to flip the table over like a spaz and generally loose my head so I decided it was easier to loose them money. Later on I turn another house on the same guy and he leads into me, i go for it all and he calls. I don't know what he had. Sam J runs like a don out of the blinds only getting dealt JJ+ and ending up with a set or quads every time. Not that I'm complaining as I was exactly running bad. Ridla well...less said about that the better but it's good he's not a fighter :)
Card Guard Cup
The day started off at the frankly overrated Nandos. Calm down lads. Ok?. It's only chicken :) The team was Captain Dave, Vice Captain Buzz, Ridla, Andy, Bomber, Milo, Sensh and the debutantes Aryan, Mckinney and myself. To my mind this is a very strong team and I consider myself to amongst the weakest tourny players in our squad, I would have had no complaints if I wasn't even picked. Lads like SamJ and Gaz would be great choices. I know I have something to offer in team games as I'm quite happy knitting a jumper on my way to the points and points make prizes :)
I don't want to bore you with hands as I've done too much of that above but I think I generally played well, possibly missed a spot with 77 but I was in my defence trying to point up. Thinking about my exit hand I may have folded pre to ladder up the points but hindsight is 20/20 vision.
Really I want to say a massive thank you to all the people who made this game possible, they know who they are. Special mention to Varzee for breaking my table first as I had about one third of the room I needed to feel comfortable downstairs.
The biggest thanks must go out to all members of my team on making this a class experience from seeing old friends to banter to the epic rail to Sam for being a true team player. I love you all and I can't wait to do something like this again.
Until then...
Tuesday 31 January 2012
Thursday 29 December 2011
New Years Revolutions.
Ok folks so xmas has been and gone and the new year is just around the corner. It's that usual time where we all make promises that we don't keep for the coming year. In short here are my new years resolutions.
Online Poker.
Play more online and take it bloody seriously for once. I will be playing 9-man SNGs to start the year. So on the first I'll deposit 50BI at the $1.50 level so $75 to start off. The same shite as normal, move up a level when I get to 50BI of the next level. I think the next level is $3.50 so that'll be $175
This links well into my next goal smoothly. As I'm playing on Pokerstars I am going to win the Battle Of The Planets for the micro stakes level. Also as a side not, get my whack ass out of Bronze Star.
Live Poker.
I'm going to play more live poker, both tournies and cash. Hopefully I'll play some of the tour events this year, be it UKIPT, GUKPT or whatever. Play better, like my man Mike Caro says, "It's ok to play your best all of the time".
Real Life.
I'm going to continue to loose weight and get back into shape. To help do this and get some discipline back into my life I'm going to start a martial art, hopefully Brazilian Ju-Jitsu
Save up for my Wedding. This is a biggy but I think I can do it.
Ok people I'm out, I'll keep you all up to date with my progress throughput 2012.
Online Poker.
Play more online and take it bloody seriously for once. I will be playing 9-man SNGs to start the year. So on the first I'll deposit 50BI at the $1.50 level so $75 to start off. The same shite as normal, move up a level when I get to 50BI of the next level. I think the next level is $3.50 so that'll be $175
This links well into my next goal smoothly. As I'm playing on Pokerstars I am going to win the Battle Of The Planets for the micro stakes level. Also as a side not, get my whack ass out of Bronze Star.
Live Poker.
I'm going to play more live poker, both tournies and cash. Hopefully I'll play some of the tour events this year, be it UKIPT, GUKPT or whatever. Play better, like my man Mike Caro says, "It's ok to play your best all of the time".
Real Life.
I'm going to continue to loose weight and get back into shape. To help do this and get some discipline back into my life I'm going to start a martial art, hopefully Brazilian Ju-Jitsu
Save up for my Wedding. This is a biggy but I think I can do it.
Ok people I'm out, I'll keep you all up to date with my progress throughput 2012.
Tuesday 20 December 2011
You have three eights! He has three eights! I'd never have put him on three eights.
Ok so after a long drive from Oxford to Gateshead I'm back where I belong at about half twelve one o'clock. The missus is always knackered after driving all the way so she slopes off back to her mams house for a kip. At a loose end I realise the toon are playing at home against Swansea. With this in mind I head off to SJP to pick up a ticket. Let the madness ensue.
So I get to the ground and join the que for tickets. There's a bloke walking down the que offering a single ticket and ne one is buying. He gets to me,
"single ticket mate?"
"aye"
"I'm selling my season ticket for this game, £20"
I tell him I don't have any cash on me kinda hoping he'd leave me alone and move on. It's not that I'm against this sort of thing but I'd rather get a ticket in the tried and tested trustwurthy way. Instead of moving on he throws me a curveball,
"well you could pay me later"
Now admittedly I am a novice at this sort of thing but I wasn't aware that you could get store credit off a tout. What's next a freaking loyalty card? So a no lose way to see the game, if the tickets bogus I just don't pay. This seems to work so we exchange phone numbers and I take the ticket. It's one of these fancy smart card deals so I scan it then pass it back to him like a dirty ticket baton pass. I have a scrap piece of paper with the seat number on it and that's where I'm headed. I arrive in the row and there's a kid in my seat, freaking brilliant this is. In true Bourne style I sit a few seats a long and wait for the stands to fill up. I can always take any empty seat when it's clear no one else is coming.
After going to put a couple of bets on I return with my chin up and tell the bloke he's in my seat. He moves a long one and all is merry. I don't have much to say about the game apart from the Gary Speed tribute nearly had me in tears. Although it might have been too cold to actually cry!
Fast forward three or so hours and I'm in Aspers with Ridla. We sit at probably the toughest £1/£1 game I've played at in a while. Ridla, Ali, Dom, The Hammer... after a while people move to the £1/£2 game and we are now at the craziest and loosest game ever. There is a short stack with £25 open shoving anytime he smells a decent starting hand and surprise surprise I'm the only guy who can't beat him. AT v A8 no good. There is a young kid who is betting and calling ,massive amounts, with nothing and a drunk Hungarian getting out of line all over but we'll get to him later and possibly worst of all a business man who commentates on everything all the live long day.
I start with £100 and get it up to about £250/£300 with two sets that are gooood. In a friendly limped pot I check 84 in the BB to see a 8x8 flop. I lead out for the pot whack starts Ridla off, "who leads an..." thankfully he tales off realising that I would and have indeed led the eight. The table Jessy May calls and to be honest I don't really remember the action I stack the dude on the river. I'd have thought this might have silenced him a bit. I was wrong. "he's got three eights! I could never have put you on three eights!" Ridla never being one to pass up a needle, "he's got three eights mate".
Ridla looses a biggish pot and then gets needled by a guy, "put that on the forum Ridla". Not 100% what that means but moving on. Aspers reg Ray looses a pot when he flops broadway, gets it all in but the guy goes running house. Not noticing this Ridla then goes on to act like he won which is class as he can't win a pot even when he flops everything. "did you not win?" was my personal highlight.
My only real other hand of note was with JJ vs the nutter kid, a random and the Hungarian. Someone opens and I call in positon, my thoughts being that lease three have been getting into it a lot and I'll just play slow and scoop them if the board doesn't get too scary. Anyway I play possum and on the least scary board we get to showdown in a £250 pot. I show my hand first and the two other kids half show and fold. The dealer starts raking to pot and suddenly the Hungarian turns up with freaking pocket aces. Pocket what? Most epic slow roll ever! And to add insult to injury he then leaves before the next hand is dealt. I know etiquette at live tables is sometimes a bit iffy but this was taking the piss. I may have played bad etc but the thing that pleased me was that I would have tipped that table on the Hungarian bastards head in years gone by but times have changed.
So I get home at about two thirty with £50 profit and it all goes pear shaped from there but this isn't a blog about diarrhoea so I'll leave that out.
Sorry if this hasn't been my best effort but I am really quite ill. Hopefully I'll get better in time to play some more cash before I have to head back down south for the winter.
Peace
So I get to the ground and join the que for tickets. There's a bloke walking down the que offering a single ticket and ne one is buying. He gets to me,
"single ticket mate?"
"aye"
"I'm selling my season ticket for this game, £20"
I tell him I don't have any cash on me kinda hoping he'd leave me alone and move on. It's not that I'm against this sort of thing but I'd rather get a ticket in the tried and tested trustwurthy way. Instead of moving on he throws me a curveball,
"well you could pay me later"
Now admittedly I am a novice at this sort of thing but I wasn't aware that you could get store credit off a tout. What's next a freaking loyalty card? So a no lose way to see the game, if the tickets bogus I just don't pay. This seems to work so we exchange phone numbers and I take the ticket. It's one of these fancy smart card deals so I scan it then pass it back to him like a dirty ticket baton pass. I have a scrap piece of paper with the seat number on it and that's where I'm headed. I arrive in the row and there's a kid in my seat, freaking brilliant this is. In true Bourne style I sit a few seats a long and wait for the stands to fill up. I can always take any empty seat when it's clear no one else is coming.
After going to put a couple of bets on I return with my chin up and tell the bloke he's in my seat. He moves a long one and all is merry. I don't have much to say about the game apart from the Gary Speed tribute nearly had me in tears. Although it might have been too cold to actually cry!
Fast forward three or so hours and I'm in Aspers with Ridla. We sit at probably the toughest £1/£1 game I've played at in a while. Ridla, Ali, Dom, The Hammer... after a while people move to the £1/£2 game and we are now at the craziest and loosest game ever. There is a short stack with £25 open shoving anytime he smells a decent starting hand and surprise surprise I'm the only guy who can't beat him. AT v A8 no good. There is a young kid who is betting and calling ,massive amounts, with nothing and a drunk Hungarian getting out of line all over but we'll get to him later and possibly worst of all a business man who commentates on everything all the live long day.
I start with £100 and get it up to about £250/£300 with two sets that are gooood. In a friendly limped pot I check 84 in the BB to see a 8x8 flop. I lead out for the pot whack starts Ridla off, "who leads an..." thankfully he tales off realising that I would and have indeed led the eight. The table Jessy May calls and to be honest I don't really remember the action I stack the dude on the river. I'd have thought this might have silenced him a bit. I was wrong. "he's got three eights! I could never have put you on three eights!" Ridla never being one to pass up a needle, "he's got three eights mate".
Ridla looses a biggish pot and then gets needled by a guy, "put that on the forum Ridla". Not 100% what that means but moving on. Aspers reg Ray looses a pot when he flops broadway, gets it all in but the guy goes running house. Not noticing this Ridla then goes on to act like he won which is class as he can't win a pot even when he flops everything. "did you not win?" was my personal highlight.
My only real other hand of note was with JJ vs the nutter kid, a random and the Hungarian. Someone opens and I call in positon, my thoughts being that lease three have been getting into it a lot and I'll just play slow and scoop them if the board doesn't get too scary. Anyway I play possum and on the least scary board we get to showdown in a £250 pot. I show my hand first and the two other kids half show and fold. The dealer starts raking to pot and suddenly the Hungarian turns up with freaking pocket aces. Pocket what? Most epic slow roll ever! And to add insult to injury he then leaves before the next hand is dealt. I know etiquette at live tables is sometimes a bit iffy but this was taking the piss. I may have played bad etc but the thing that pleased me was that I would have tipped that table on the Hungarian bastards head in years gone by but times have changed.
So I get home at about two thirty with £50 profit and it all goes pear shaped from there but this isn't a blog about diarrhoea so I'll leave that out.
Sorry if this hasn't been my best effort but I am really quite ill. Hopefully I'll get better in time to play some more cash before I have to head back down south for the winter.
Peace
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Put your hands up if you remember the juice crew?
Ok ok ok.
So it starts again, as some of you may know I had a blog and didn't update it all to often. I'm sure there's thousands of blogs out there that are the same. But anyway I was kinda off playing poker for a while, with very little live action in Oxford and me not really getting this online thing I gave it up. In the mean time I have a shit job and I live in a shit place but that aside I have what I would consider a very good life. I live comfortably within my means and I am engaged to be married sometime in 2013. All of my friends and family are in good health and hopefully good spirits.
I'll skip on the obligatory statements promising you regular updates as I have done this in the past and it's no guaranty of success. However this time around I'll be blogging not only about poker but also about my battle to get back into shape and my outings for the FAs most hated football team (among other things).
OK the poker, over the last couple of months I have been home (Newcastle) more than I had planned for and I spent a lot of that time playing live cash at Aspers/The G. It went well although I still managed to be pissed off about how it went. There's no pleasing some people after all. I realised though that I am much worse as a player than I was when I was an Aspers reg. So to this vain I'm going to study the library of poker books I have again from start to finish and keep up the online videos.
Right I said that I wasn't a fan of online poker, that might be all about to change. I have been playing a little more and enjoying it. So far I'm playing 9-man SNG at the $1.50 level on Stars. This isn't exactly where you'd get to play the best poker but as far as learning to multi-table and act like an automaton it's working out pretty well.
I'm back in the fatherland on the 17th so there'll be more live poker that week. Also I'm viewing wedding venues and have a potentially very exciting venture to take up.
Well that's all from me for today so peace.
So it starts again, as some of you may know I had a blog and didn't update it all to often. I'm sure there's thousands of blogs out there that are the same. But anyway I was kinda off playing poker for a while, with very little live action in Oxford and me not really getting this online thing I gave it up. In the mean time I have a shit job and I live in a shit place but that aside I have what I would consider a very good life. I live comfortably within my means and I am engaged to be married sometime in 2013. All of my friends and family are in good health and hopefully good spirits.
I'll skip on the obligatory statements promising you regular updates as I have done this in the past and it's no guaranty of success. However this time around I'll be blogging not only about poker but also about my battle to get back into shape and my outings for the FAs most hated football team (among other things).
OK the poker, over the last couple of months I have been home (Newcastle) more than I had planned for and I spent a lot of that time playing live cash at Aspers/The G. It went well although I still managed to be pissed off about how it went. There's no pleasing some people after all. I realised though that I am much worse as a player than I was when I was an Aspers reg. So to this vain I'm going to study the library of poker books I have again from start to finish and keep up the online videos.
Right I said that I wasn't a fan of online poker, that might be all about to change. I have been playing a little more and enjoying it. So far I'm playing 9-man SNG at the $1.50 level on Stars. This isn't exactly where you'd get to play the best poker but as far as learning to multi-table and act like an automaton it's working out pretty well.
I'm back in the fatherland on the 17th so there'll be more live poker that week. Also I'm viewing wedding venues and have a potentially very exciting venture to take up.
Well that's all from me for today so peace.
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